I was diagnosed with c diff in October 2017 after taking clindamycin for cellulitis from a spider bite. I am an otherwise healthy 35 year old woman. I was treated with one ten day course of vancomycin. I did have some IBS symptos for around two months after treatment and I have just really started feeling like my GI system is back to normal. In fact, I was thinking about posting a success story because I had so much trouble finding people that were successfully treated with one course of treatment. Three of my family members have been diagnosed with strep throat in the last two weeks. I am absolutely terrified that I am going to catch it. Do I have to treat strep? Are the chances of me getting c diff again higher than the chance of complications from strep such as rheumatic fever? I am thinking about starting Florastor again even though it made me extremely gassy and made my BMs soft.

The strep treatment is given ( in my country) only when is active and symptoms are present : fever and difficulty swallowing , chills , swollen lymph nodes etc. Asymptomatic carriers are not to be treated.

If they have been on antibiotics for 24 hours they should no longer be contagious. The incubation period for strep is something like 2-5 days. So if 5 days passes after that 24 hour period you should be in the clear. Strep lives on surfaces and sometimes due to their biofilm can live on surfaces for months. Lysol the commonly touched areas/bathrooms/where you sit and door handles and you should minimize the risk of catching even further. You didn’t mention strep type. If it’s strep A then it usually does need to be treated but other countries don’t treat non complicated strep. That is something to discuss and weigh the pros and cons with your dr. Strep got me into the c diff mess (clindamycin) and I understand your concern. Careful hygienic practices and keeping your distance until any contagious periods are over would be my route to take. If your family are not treating the strep it can be contagious for up to 3 weeks. Hopefully it passes and doesn’t affect you.

I had a very similar situation at the end of last year regarding strep. If they are past the contagious period you should be fine but just be careful. Personally I have found that gargling with oregano oil and salt water upon early symptoms has prevented me from requiring antibiotics.